Gutsy or gambling?

Gary Kirsten said he’d never seen a pitch at Kingsmead with as much grass on it as the one which greeted the teams on Sunday. He said he was surprised that South Africa were prepared to gamble on the toss and conditions quite as much as the playing strip suggested. “Anyone could be bowled out for 100 on a strip like that,” Kirsten said.

He wasn’t unhappy, however. “We didn’t get to number one in the world by playing and winning just at home. We have bowlers who can take 20 wickets in a variety of conditions and if the game moves forward quickly and the bowlers enjoy themselves more than the batsmen, then I’m happy with that and I’ll back our team to level the series.”

As it turned out, Graeme Smith was lucky enough to win the toss and bowl first but he had the courage of his convictions the day before the match started when he was given the option of having some of the luscious, green grass removed to make it less hostile for the batsmen.

In fact, Smith, Kallis and Boucher, the senior triumvirate, were asked by senior ground staff whether they would prefer the pitch to be ‘tamed’ a little before the start of the match and they replied, virtually in unison, ‘no way.’ Interestingly, Hashim Amla, who knows the pitch better than any of them, did suggest that a modest shave might not be the worst idea. But he was outvoted!

Would Smith really ‘gamble’? Unlikely. Instead, it was a case of the captain and his most experienced cohorts having the courage and confidence to back themselves and their technique above that of their rivals and, as importantly, back their pace attack above that of India’s.

On both of South Africa’s previous tours to India the hosts prepared ‘result’ pitches for the final tests of the series – in Kanpur and Kolkatta – and won both of them to square the series. This time, the home side had the opportunity to repay the compliment with a pitch to suit their strengths and give them the chance to win the series with a match to spare. And they took it.

“As they should,” admitted Kirsten with enthusiasm. “They would have been foolish not to. Home ground advantage is one of the beauties of test cricket. But it can backfire…”